MINELRES: Fwd: World Bank Supports New Roma Education Fund - Decade Initiative
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Mon Jul 21 09:13:21 2003
Original sender: Roma Network <[email protected]>
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From: <[email protected]>
WORLD BANK SUPPORTS NEW ROMA EDUCATION FUND - DECADE INITIATIVE
Roma conference calls for joint action
Contacts:
Merrell Tuck - 06 20 952 3487
E-mail: [email protected]
Tunde Buzetzky - 06 20 475 3673
BUDAPEST, July 1, 2003
World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn welcomed a new approach
endorsed by government leaders of Central and Southeast Europe to reduce
poverty among Roma and include them in European society through better
education, health care, housing and job opportunities. The initiative,
which includes a Decade of Roma Inclusion and a Roma Education Fund, was
agreed at a two-day conference hosted by the Government of Hungary on
the challenges facing Roma in an expanding Europe.
The conference brought together an unprecedented range of top government
representatives, senior officials from international organizations, and
leaders from the Roma community and civil society. The event was
co-sponsored by the World Bank, the Open Society Institute (OSI), and
the European Commission. Other contributors included the UNDP, the
Council of Europe Development Bank, and the governments of Hungary,
Sweden and Finland.
The Decade of Roma Inclusion, to start in 2005, will include targets to
be agreed over next 12 months. They will likely include goals related to
poverty reduction, health, school enrolment, employment, and so on.
"This conference brings new hope that we have to nurture. The
conditions in which most Roma now live are unconscionable. We must
forge a better understanding of the Roma among other members of society
and work with Roma leaders to realize their aspirations. This is a
community with great potential and we all have a responsibility to
ensure that this cultured people has the opportunity to realize its
contribution to European society" said World Bank President James D.
Wolfensohn.
The Roma Education Fund will provide funding to raise the educational
status and performance of the Roma. At present, few Roma children
complete primary school and many are wrongly placed in schools for
children with special needs.
"Without better education, Roma aspirations for equal opportunities and
a better life cannot be met. Breaking the cycle of social exclusion and
discrimination requires active support for education as the single best
way out of the Roma's current impasse," said Mr. Wolfensohn.
The new education fund, which is expected to take a year to set up, will
provide resources for new and innovative approaches aimed at boosting
Roma educational opportunities. Once detailed plans have been agreed,
the World Bank will organize a pledging conference.
In addition to Roma leaders, the event included the Prime Ministers of
Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Romania as well as
Ministers from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Montenegro,
Slovakia, and Sweden. Ms. Anna Diamantopoulou, European Commissioner for
Employment and Social Affairs, OSI Chairman George Soros, and UNDP
Administrator Mark Malloch Brown also attended the conference.
The World Bank has made nine loans for projects supporting social
services for Roma in Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and the Slovak
Republic. Seven grants in Bulgaria, Hungary, Macedonia and the Slovak
Republic focused specifically on minority and Roma issues. The Bank has
also supported several studies of Roma, including a report published for
the Budapest conference titled, Roma in an Expanding Europe: Breaking
the Poverty Cycle.
For more information on the Budapest conference, Roma in an Expanding
Europe:
Challenges for the Future, please visit:
http://www.worldbank.org/romaconference
For the full text of the Bank's latest Roma report and for more
information on the World Bank's involvement in Roma issues, please
visit:
http://www.worldbank.org/roma
Miriam Van Dyck
Europe and Central Asia External Affairs
The World Bank
Telephone (202) 458-2931
Fax (202) 614-1008